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Pictures of the Week: December 6 – December 13

From Obama's selfie at Mandela's memorial service and the execution of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's uncle to the continuing protests in Kiev and Santa snuggling with a shark, TIME presents the best pictures of the week.

From Obama’s selfie at Mandela’s memorial service and the execution of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s uncle to the continuing protests in Kiev and Santa snuggling with a shark, TIME presents the best pictures of the week.

(See also: 2013: The Year in 365 Pictures)

South Africa Holds A National Day Of Prayer For Nelson Mandela People release a balloons into the air in front of the Eiffel Tower to support four French journalists who are held hostage in Syria Palestinians look out window of building damaged by Israeli air strikes in past during a rally in Gaza APTOPIX Mideast Israel Draft CENTRAFRICA-FRANCE-UNREST BIATHLON-WC-MEN CHINA-ENVIRONMENT-POLLUTION BESTPIX Thousands Protest In Kiev As They Call On Government Leaders To Resign Mideast Egypt TOPSHOTS-SAFRICA-MANDELA-MEMORIAL CANADA-FEATURE-WEATHER Central African Republic CENTRAFRICA-FRANCE-CAMEROON-DEFENCE-UNREST Supporters stand in front of a giant Palestinian flag as they take part in a rally in Gaza City South Africa Mourns Nelson Mandela Models pose at a barricade as they take part in a photo shoot for an art project, at Independence Square in Kiev ROMANIA-AGRICULTURE-FEATURE Dammika cries after receiving the flag that covered the casket of her husband during his wake service in New York APTOPIX Cold Snap Texas Heavy Smog Hits East China A Palestinian woman, hoping to cross into Egypt, carries her son as he looks out of a bus window while waiting at the Rafah crossing between Egypt and the southern Gaza Strip APTOPIX South Africa Mandela Mourning DeSean Jackson CENTRAFRICA-FRANCE-DEFENCE-UNREST U.S. Marines Lt. Col. Clint Benfield and Col. Ben Watson talk under pictures of Queen Elizabeth, Afghan President Karzai and U.S. President Obama at Camp Bastion INDIA-NOMADS-SHEEP APTOPIX Central African Republic Central African Republic Central African Republic People stand near a burning truck loaded with gasoline after it collided in Jakarta India Tibet Protest Anti-government protesters march with a large Thai national flag during a rally in Bangkok BESTPIX Ultra Orthodox Jews Protest Against Military Conscription In Israel Winter swimmers try to pull man out of icy waters after he was trapped in partially frozen lake at a park in Changchun Troops are pulled to barricades of Euromaidan in Kiev A man carries a wounded girl who survived what activists say was an air strike by forces loyal to Syrian President Assad in Aleppo's al-Ansari al-Sharqi neighborhood General Views of Manaus - Venue for 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil Brazil Struggles With Crack Epidemic Attendees look down into a stadium entrance at the state memorial service for former South African President Nelson Mandela in Johannesburg. South Africa Mandela Mourning SAFRICA-MANDELA-MEMORIAL TOPSHOTS-PAKISTAN-SAFRICA-MANDELA Immigrant Rights Advocates Protest At Elizabeth Detention Center TOPSHOTS-CENTRAFRICA-UNREST People from neighbouring villages watch a bullfight in Congjiang county The Canary Wharf business district of east London taken from the Metropolitan Police helicopter is seen during a foggy morning in this photograph received via the Metropolitan Police in London APTOPIX Japan Santa Claus Pope 's audience in Saint Peter's Square Pope Francis Weekly General Audience - Vatican APTOPIX South Africa Mandela Mourning SOUTH AFRICA-PRETORIA-MANDELA-MEMORIAL EVENT APTOPIX South Africa Mandela Mourning APTOPIX South Africa Mandela Mourning Graca Machel, the widow of former South African President Nelson Mandela, pays her respects at his coffin as he lies in state at the Union Buildings in Pretoria A Free Syrian Army fighter throws snow at his fellow fighter in Khan Tuman, Aleppo Clashes in central Kiev as police try to break up pro-EU protests WINCHESTER CHORISTERS ICE SKATING Ultra-Orthodox Jewish men roll a snowball after a snowstorm at a park during winter in Jerusalem India Hindu Festival North Korea Daily Life A Palestinian woman feeds her son at a school after being evacuated during a storm in Khan Younis Ukrainian and European Union flags fly over the newly-erected barricades at Independence Square in Kiev, Ukraine. Policewomen are deployed to secure the compound of the Government House, as anti-government protesters gather behind its fence and gates in Bangkok New York Mayor-elect De Blasio speaks to the media during a news conference in New York Baby whose family fled the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan rests in a cradle at a slum on the outskirts of Islamabad TOPSHOTS-PALESTINIAN-GAZA-WEATHER TOPSHOTS-LEBANON-SYRIA-CONFLICT-REFUGEES-WEATHER Preparations Are Being Made In Qunu Ahead Of the Funeral For Nelson Mandela TOPSHOTS-INDIA-RELIGION-FESTIVAL APTOPIX Brazil France Santa Claus kites float in front of the Eiffel Tower as part of Christmas holiday season preparations in Paris Youths attempt to control a fire during clashes between Jamaat-e-Islami party activists and police in Dhaka TOPSHOTS-THAILAND-POLITICS-UNREST TOPSHOTS-CORRECTION-NKOREA-KIM-JANG-EXECUTION APTOPIX North Korea Kim's Uncle Jamaat Men Torch 4 cars, 5 motorcycles in Dhaka A woman swims in the pool at the David Citadel Hotel during a snow storm in Jerusalem

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